Liberaceón
2011, 16 minutes, Three channel video installation
Liberaceón, the second in a series of biographical pieces, renarrates portions of the biography of Liberace—the flamboyant, yet closeted,
apolitical pop pianist who died in 1987—in order to insert him into a
queer history of radical AIDS/HIV activism. The central component of the
video installation is a short narrative in which Vargas performs as Liberace,
embellishing details from his life and spinning them into a mythic origin
story of the in/famous direct-action group, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to
Unleash Power).
Screenings/Exhibitions:
* Inarguably Uncertain: The 41st Annual UC Berkeley MFA Graduate Exhibition, Berkeley Art Museum May 20th-June 26th 2011 Berkeley, CA
* Artist Television Access, May 2011 San Francisco, CA
* Bay Area Currents 2011, Pro Arts Gallery, July-September 2011 Oakland, CA
--Review: Liberaceón - Daily Serving
* Illegitimate and Herstorical, A.I.R. gallery, January 2012 Brooklyn, NY
curated by Emily Roysdon.
--Review: Queer Art Grows In Brooklyn - Hyperallergic
* Yesterday Once More - a Dirty Looks program, White Columns, June 2012 NY, NY
--Dirty Looks: Yesterday Once More program publication (PDF)
